Porsche 911 review: Fifty years on from the original, the lightweight Porsche 911 T is reborn

I’M expecting Porsche lovers to complain about these photos.

“That 911 is filthy. It’s clearly been driven. Arrest that man immediately.”

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Hugo might say, after swallowing back down a little sick burp in his throat.

Of course, Hugo and other rich bankers (spelled with a w) aren’t really Porsche lovers at all — they are collectors.

They keep their polished Porsches in heated garages, never turning a wheel. They couldn’t possibly drive them. Hell, no. They bought them as an investment.

Which makes me a little sad.

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Porsche knows all this, too.

Which is why it has brought back the legendary 911 T name for 2018 with the tagline “made for drivers, not collectors”.

Also interpreted as “built to get dirty”.

You see, the 911 T is your original no-nonsense, twist-and-go 911: Light, low, rear-drive, manual and very fast. It’s a wonderful thing.

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A budget 911 R, if you like.

(To underline my earlier point, the 911 R is now fetching up to £500k second-hand. It was £137k new.)

The 911 T (T for Touring) has been stripped down to the essentials by removing the rear seats (you can have them as a free option), reducing soundproofing to a minimum, and using lightweight glass for the rear screen and rear side windows. Even the door handles are fabric loops.

With this car, less is more.

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Yet it has everything you want from a 911. Performance. That mighty Porsche sound. Top score on the turn-head-o-meter. And top score on the grin-o-meter.

The twin-turbo flat-six, sitting low down behind you, fires you from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and 0-99mph in 9.7. Potent, then? Yes. It lunges to the next corner like a cat after a mouse.

Top speed is 182mph. There’s also something clever called Porsche Torque Vectoring, which works in tandem with the rear diff lock for hero cornering. It gives more stability by braking the inner rear wheel and sending more drive force to the outside wheel.

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There are four driving modes — Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Individual. Clearly, Sport Plus is the only way to travel as it tightens the engine, chassis and sports exhaust to 100 per cent performance. It also has a throttle-blip function on the downshifts. I liked that a lot.

So there you have it. Fifty years on from the original, the lightweight 911 T is reborn. The 911 for those that know.

Hugo, dear chap, a quick word about that £85k loan . . .